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Defence attorney William Ingaldson
said his client was faced with a difficult situation dealing with a
child with emotional problems when she reached out to the Dr Phil show
for help.

If she hadn't done that, she never would have been charged with child abuse, he said.

'It is our feeling Jessica was doing the best she could ... this is a very good, loving family, Mr Ingaldson said.

Charges: Beagley told talk show Dr Phil she turned to giving her adopted son a cold shower 'as a last resort'

He believes the city child abuse ordinance fails to spell out what is acceptable in terms of punishment.

Mr Ingaldson will request that
Beagley receive no jail time. Asked if the children could be taken from
the family, he said that could not be done by anybody in Alaska because
the Beagleys had already been investigated by the office of children's
services, which found no reason to take any action.

In closing arguments on Monday, Ms
Franklin said Beagley recorded the punishment on October 21, 2010, for a
segment of the show titled 'Mommy Confessions'.

Beagley's defence lawyer countered
that she made the video and eventually went on the show because she was
desperate to find help for her son, a Russian orphan with psychological
and emotional problems.

The eight-minute video shows Beagley
confronting the boy about misbehaving in school and lying, then pouring
hot sauce into the crying child's mouth and not allowing him to spit it
out for more than a minute.

The footage also shows Beagley forcing the screaming boy into a cold shower before sending him off the bed.

Ms Franklin said in her closing argument: 'There is no reason in the world why someone has to hurt a child to get on a reality show.'

When the episode aired, it sparked
public outrage in Russia, with some people demanding the boy and his
twin brother, who were both adopted by Beagley and her husband, be
returned to their native country.

Ms Franklin told the jury it wasn't Beagley's first attempt to get on the Dr Phil show.

After seeing a segment in April 2009 titled Angry Moms, she contacted the show but heard nothing for a year and a half.

The show eventually called to find out if Beagley was still angry, she said.

Beagley then submitted audition
videos in which she yelled at the boy, but producers said they needed to
see her actually punishing her son, the prosecutor said.

That's when Beagley got the video
camera ready, made sure there was enough hot sauce on the shelf in the
bathroom and recruited her ten-year-old daughter to shoot the video, Ms
Franklin said.

Days later, she was headed to Los Angeles to tape the show that first aired on November 17, 2010.

Beagley and her husband had tried
more traditional means of punishment, such as timeouts and television
restrictions, but none of the tactics worked with one of the twins, who
did such things as urinating on the floor, Mr Ingaldson said.

More recently, the boy has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and is in therapy.

In his closing arguments, he
encouraged the jury to look closely at other footage submitted to the
show in which Beagley coaches the children on not getting into trouble
and reminding them of what happens if they do.

'She is not trying to get these kids to misbehave. She is trying to do the opposite,' Mr Ingaldson said.

The Beagleys, who have four biological children, adopted the Russian boys in 2008.